It's Monday 3/7! What Are You Reading?

Happy Mardi Gras!  Well, Mardi Gras Day is actually tomorrow, but we're in the midst of the height of the celebrations.  We used to live in New Orleans, so Mardi Gras is one of our favorite holidays.  We had a small party Saturday night, including several friends who used to live in New Orleans when we did, and have been enjoying jambalaya, red beans & rice, shrimp, bread pudding, and King Cake all weekend!

All the party preparations (plus two kids home sick most of last week) didn't leave much time for reading, but we did manage some:

• I am reading Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran for my neighborhood book group this week.  I struggled with it a bit at first because I couldn't keep the characters straight (lots of similar names and lots of changing partners!), but I am enjoying it very much now.
• I finally finished Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay, a teen/YA audio book that I've been listening to for quite a few weeks, about two young girls in Afghanistan.  It was absolutely wonderful, one of the best teen books I've read/heard in years.
• Jamie, 16, finished The Awakening by Kate Chopin for his American Literature class.  He said it was terrible - I guess a passionate story of female awakening just isn't his style!  He also said he didn't like the ending.
• While home sick, Jamie turned to some comfort reading - re-reading one of his all-time favorite series, The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud.  He read Book 1: The Amulet of Samarkand and Book 2: The Golem's Eye and is moving onto Book 3.
• Craig, 13, prefers TV to books when he is sick!
• My husband, Ken, is reading Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton.  He says it's good but not the typical type of Crichton novel (the back cover says the manuscript was found after his death, so who knows what his plans for it were!)

Last week, I posted a review of Between Home and School: Letters, Notes and E-Mails by Bill Harley, a slim but wonderful book about a boy growing up and a review of Blank Confession by Pete Hautman, a teen/YA suspense novel at Great Books for Kids and Teens.

What are you and your family reading this week?

(What are you reading Monday is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.)